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This is The GPL Podcast from gopherpucklive.com.
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This podcast is sponsored by Jerry Peters and First Class Mortgage.
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Our expertise, your peace of mind.
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Visit us at firstclassmortgage.com.
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Now, let's start the show with your hosts, Jupiter and Vego.
0:39
Good evening, and welcome to the GPL Podcast, episode number 208.
0:46
Well, Veegs, we delayed it a day.
0:48
You had a previous engagement last night.
0:53
I hope you've defrosted.
0:54
It actually, I dressed for the weather.
0:59
I was in lots of layers.
1:01
I knew what I was getting into, and it was a lot of fun to be there.
1:06
It's a once in a lifetime experience.
1:07
I mean, I don't know if this will ever happen again, especially after the fallout from everybody talking about the conditions.
1:15
But I was very comfortable for the game.
1:18
I was happy to see them win three nil.
1:19
It was an impressive performance of the US.
1:23
Men's National Team, getting goals off of set pieces.
1:25
You know, that's kind of USA soccer like we expect.
1:29
Well, we'll get into that a little bit, but it's just because I'm curious.
1:32
It just seemed like a blast.
1:33
But we have a returning guest, the former Gopher making his second appearance on the show, Eric Schierhorn.
1:41
There he is.
1:42
How are you doing, man?
1:44
Thanks for having me on.
1:45
It's good to be back.
1:46
Well, you know, I figured we'd have you on again because, well, for one...
1:51
There's not any goalie news, is there?
1:52
The goalie situation the last month, a bit of a talker.
2:00
And I thought that we would, you know, eventually get some of your thoughts here on, you know, all that whole situation, but I'm just glad you could, you could join us again.
2:07
Yeah.
2:08
Do I get the title Recurring Guest now?
2:11
You do.
2:13
Yeah, I'll take it.
2:14
We might have to keep you, bring you back more often.
2:16
Perfect.
2:17
Well, right before, you know, we brought you on, I was talking with Veegs here about that, you know, why we didn't go on Wednesday night, because Veegs was at the US.
2:25
Soccer match last night, and zero degrees, something like that, Veegs.
2:30
Honduran players getting hypothermia.
2:33
And of course, I saw the US.
2:35
National Men's Team tweeting out, only in Minnesota to get people without shirts on.
2:42
It was cold, you were dressed appropriately, but tell us about the atmosphere.
2:46
How fun was it, even with the weather?
2:49
Well, I think there was just kind of a feeling of excitement.
2:51
Like, I ran into a bunch of people who I know, you know, follow the soccer program around and, you know, seeing them in the concourse, I got there at like 5 15.
3:00
You know, so I was there almost like an hour before kickoff.
3:06
You know, I wore five layers, so I was ready for it.
3:09
I thought about bringing some cardboard or Styrofoam to stand on.
3:12
I was like, nah, it's not that bad out there.
3:14
And it was really comfortable and I had a great time, had a couple of beers and enjoyed it.
3:22
Eric, did you play any outdoor games?
3:26
Except maybe in youth, because I know you kind of you missed some of those outdoor games, the Gophers, didn't you?
3:30
Yeah, unfortunately, we missed those.
3:33
Like I was telling you beforehand, Don kind of said when we were getting recruiting to the classes, well, two above me played in that one at TCF, but above me for sure they said we're going to do one every four years because Don didn't really like them.
3:47
I'm guessing he didn't think it suited the Gophers game very well, which there might be something there.
3:52
But you know, it's something everyone wants to do.
3:54
Unfortunately, we didn't.
3:56
I don't know if this counts, but when I was young, we would play at a rink in Kenai, Alaska, sometimes for tournaments at three walls.
4:05
So we're going up there in the middle of winter.
4:07
Yeah, it's I don't even know how like it didn't even make sense, but it was like part indoor, part outdoor.
4:15
So it's like negative 20 degrees in Kenai, Alaska, and we're playing hockey is brutal.
4:20
So if that counts, then yes, I have.
4:22
I mean, most kids when they're growing up, they do play outdoor ice some, at least I hope so, Veegs.
4:28
That's kind of the whole part, you know, being out there with your friends and learning how to do the stupid things that you could use later on, just skill development.
4:35
There's a lot less of it these days, but I know I've played out in freezing cold just for fun.
4:42
Yeah, I think the key is when you are playing out in freezing cold, you do get to go warm up and things like that throughout the throughout the experience.
4:50
So that's a little different in soccer where you have like 45 minutes where they're just out there going like I saw Matt Turner, the goalie for the US, you know, kind of running sprints at the top of the box to stay warm.
5:01
And, you know, during some of the long time outs, he'd go get a blanket, wrap himself.
5:06
I was just like, lucky there was nothing intense for them.
5:10
Did he have officially any saves?
5:12
I don't know if he did.
5:13
He didn't get a lot of work, that's for sure.
5:16
And then they took away, he had been at the Vikings practice facility, Eric.
5:20
Yeah.
5:20
And they gave him one of those hand warmers, like, go on your waist, 30 seconds in, the referee's like, take it off.
5:26
Really?
5:27
I'm like, they should have let both goalies just do that.
5:30
Who cares?
5:31
Yeah.
5:31
Well, the thought that I just had on the goalie too, is when it's that cold, the ground's got to be rock hard, right?
5:37
You're diving all over the place, that can't feel good.
5:40
Well, it is heated.
5:42
They said it was heated to 52 degrees, but they kept it covered.
5:45
They kept it covered.
5:47
The problem was, you know, once you uncover it, even though it's 52 degrees, it started to freeze on top.
5:53
From what the announcers are saying, Beegs.
5:56
Yeah.
5:56
It seemed like the footing was kind of okay.
5:59
You can also blame it on the cold too.
6:01
You know, the players probably had a hard time getting going sometimes for some of the things.
6:04
And then the ball was frozen too.
6:08
Did they keep switching them out?
6:10
Yeah, they switched them out and the kids on the sidelines would put them under their sweatshirts to try to get some body heat warrants on the balls.
6:17
But, you know, things freeze pretty quick.
6:19
I had a beer and as I was going down, the sides of the beer would kind of freeze to the plastic.
6:24
It was amazing.
6:26
Well, well worth delaying the podcast for a day, Veegs, just because that's kind of a once in a lifetime event.
6:32
We're never going to see a cold game like that for soccer here.
6:36
But the fact that the fans came out for it is maybe something further down the line that they get Team USA back here for another qualifier, maybe when it's a bit warmer.
6:45
It would be nice.
6:46
Pick one of the other three seasons.
6:47
I mean, I went to the game in Chicago at Soldier Field for the Gophers.
6:53
I went to the TCF outdoor game.
6:56
You know, I felt like this was maybe a little bit warmer.
6:58
Maybe it's just because mind over matter, you know, seeing them play soccer instead of hockey.
7:03
Because I remember I went down like along the glass for the game at TCF with the Gophers.
7:08
You know, I was fine down there too.
7:10
I'm just built for this kind of weather.
7:14
Yeah, you're beefy.
7:18
Got some natural insulation going.
7:20
Meatline player.
7:21
At least with hockey players, Eric, you're covered up a little more.
7:25
You know, if you're goalie, you're hoping you get a lot of action so you can stay warm.
7:29
But those soccer players are a bit more exposed.
7:33
No, you can't layer up as well.
7:38
They should have sacrificed a little mobility for warmth, I think, in a game like that.
7:44
Okay, Veegs, you called it this past weekend.
7:48
You called four points for the Gophers.
7:54
Honestly, it was, for me, another Jekyll and Hyde weekend.
7:59
Played super well one night, questionable the second night.
8:03
I want to say at least the second night they did come back.
8:07
I think they deserved a little bit better fate than they did Saturday nights.
8:12
But what are your initial thoughts?
8:15
Well, I did think we'd see OT in this weekend.
8:18
I originally predicted we'd see OT both nights.
8:21
We did not see that on Friday.
8:23
I thought the Gophers played a great Friday night game.
8:25
You know, it was one of those situations where Notre Dame gave Minnesota space.
8:29
Like I've seen in this matchup before.
8:32
It's a great matchup for Minnesota that way.
8:34
And the Gophers took advantage of it.
8:36
It was nice to see a lot of different guys get on the score sheet Friday.
8:39
I thought they were smart with the puck.
8:40
I thought they were smart, you know, not taking penalties.
8:43
I thought they made smart line changes.
8:45
It looked like, all right, maybe the message has gotten through.
8:49
Saturday, I thought they played OK.
8:54
You know, it wasn't a great start with that weird kind of tip goal that got Notre Dame on the board first.
8:59
And when you give Notre Dame a lead like that, it changes the complexity of the game.
9:04
It just changes.
9:06
It's just different.
9:07
You're chasing the game the rest of the way.
9:09
And I was kind of impressed to see the Gophers tied up and get it to overtime personally.
9:13
You know, they got a goal as a power play expired, which is something we haven't seen a lot of the last couple of weeks.
9:20
And so I think they did well to get themselves a point on the road.
9:25
And Eric, you know, in the long run, you know, four points on the road on a weekend, essentially a split is kind of one of the goals a team usually has.
9:36
I remember Don always liked to preach that, hey, sweep it home, split on the road, you know, in a league, you're going to do pretty good.
9:43
Yeah, no doubt.
9:44
And I mean, I think if you're looking at going into Notre Dame and getting four points, I think you're happy about it.
9:51
Like, no matter what, I think part of it, where there's some hesitation there where you're like, you know, left wanting more because it's, you know, it's kind of like you're just waiting for these guys to click on all cylinders and they need to start stringing some together probably to get some cushion to be in, regardless of how the Big Ten tournament shakes out.
10:12
So definitely this weekend a sweep is big and a couple more going forward is huge so that they don't have to sweat out the Big Ten tournament, which is obviously a big, big piece to this.
10:28
Yes.
10:30
Veegs, Saturday night I tweeted it out.
10:35
You've been preaching it for quite a while.
10:37
Quit skating past the goal.
10:41
Yeah, I mean, it's just it is gimmick hockey and it doesn't mean a ton.
10:45
Like you already got the point pairwise.
10:47
It doesn't matter that much whether you win or lose.
10:50
It's just the visual of the way that game ended is frustrating because it's something that we've seen happen weekend after weekend after weekend.
11:00
And, you know, I tried to keep it light with Sammy at availability this week.
11:05
You know, he was there.
11:06
So we talked about the nice hockey camp and some, you know, the gear that the guys were getting with the Olympics and stuff.
11:12
But he he knows what what's going on out there and he knows better.
11:17
It's just sometimes, you know, when you see that play, it's hard for him not to chase it.
11:22
And and that's what happened.
11:24
It was too bad to see Lacoma also make a mistake there at the end of the game.
11:27
You know, he's been better the second half.
11:30
Yes.
11:31
But, you know, in reality, it doesn't cost them that much.
11:34
You know, it's a point.
11:36
It doesn't.
11:37
But like you said, it's that thing that keeps happening.
11:40
It keeps happening.
11:41
I mean, right off the bat, Veegs, both Walker McLaughlin got trapped in the zone with one guy there and he had the puck.
11:50
He's in front of the guy.
11:52
That guy skates past him and he can't catch him.
11:56
Okay, Walker's supposed to be super fast, Veegs, and that was another frustration of mine.
12:00
It's like he was behind him the entire play.
12:03
He never caught up to him, even though he started out ahead of him.
12:07
Yeah, that is one of those places where Bob says, you know, it's interesting that some guys have the energy to make a play when it's an offensive chance and they don't have the energy on a defensive chance at the end of a shift.
12:23
And that's frustrating to him.
12:24
You know, he didn't reemphasize that point at any time after the game Saturday, but you know, it's going in his head.
12:33
He's like, if you had a chance to join a rush the other way, you might have found the legs to get in front of them.
12:41
But I don't think we want to spend the entire podcast going after that, because I thought they played well on Friday and for most of Saturday.
12:49
You're right.
12:49
They played well.
12:50
And I thought at the end there, Close was kind of left hung out to dry, Eric.
12:54
You know, essentially a two-on-one that ended up being kind of a broken play.
13:03
I want to talk about Close because obviously this goalie situation has been crazy.
13:07
But I would guess that, boy, it really helps a lot when a team defense in front of you is playing really well.
13:15
Yeah, no doubt.
13:17
And it's nice to see shots early.
13:21
I felt in a couple of games he's been able to get a rhythm.
13:23
I think I talked about this last time on the podcast.
13:26
But it's so important to get, you know, just a few warm burners on the ice so you can stick to the corner, feel good about your game, which I felt that he's had.
13:35
And he's played really well.
13:37
He has played really well.
13:38
I went to the Michigan game where they won 2-1 in overtime.
13:42
He was awesome in that game.
13:45
And he doesn't look skittish at all, you know, he's not coughing up rebounds that are clear shots from the point or anything.
13:52
And he's out on top of his crease.
13:54
He's confident.
13:55
He's moving confident.
13:58
So I've been really happy for him because, you know, I know sitting behind other goalies for three years, that's not fun.
14:08
And I'm sure he's wondering, especially after LaFontaine decided to come back, at the start of this year, he's like, when am I going to get my shot, right?
14:16
It is probably honestly almost better that he got thrown into the fire all suddenly, as opposed to having a whole off season to think about it.
14:25
Or the flip side, if the goalie in front of him were to struggle, and he's still on the roster and everyone's trying to get that goalie his confidence back somehow, because they've ridden him before, and now you're the goalie that's having some good games.
14:42
And you imagine if it was like an injury for LaFontaine or something like that, and now Closer is kind of playing the way he is right now, you'd be having some uncomfortable time in the locker room, I would think.
14:54
Yeah, no doubt.
14:55
If you think about it though, LaFontaine wasn't playing that great, Eric.
15:00
When we had you on previously, he was struggling.
15:03
I mean, around 90%, you know, save percentage, sometimes below.
15:06
He wasn't doing great.
15:08
And I think, like Vegue said, he was the guy.
15:11
Motzko was not going to play anybody else.
15:14
I think he just kind of wanted to say, hey, guys, start playing better in front of him.
15:17
It kind of builds his confidence too.
15:19
And we never got to see that come to fruition.
15:22
You know, he does get to sweep at Michigan State.
15:25
The next day, he's going to Carolina.
15:31
Yeah.
15:33
What a whirlwind that was.
15:34
I want to hear your guys' thoughts on that.
15:36
I know I'm not the host of this podcast, but I'll fire you.
15:40
Well, honestly, I remember I texted Veegs that day.
15:44
I go, it looks like he's gone.
15:46
He's like, no, he's not gone.
15:47
No, this is not happening.
15:50
And then Veegs is like, oh crap.
15:54
Yeah.
15:58
I mean, I talked about this that week after he signed.
16:00
I understand the personal decision to pursue the dream of playing in the NHL and getting the money.
16:09
That's a really amazing opportunity for him.
16:13
It's a great chance to check off that box that he's done that.
16:18
But at the same time, he probably doesn't see it from the fan perspective that his tie to Minnesota fans now will always be tarnished somehow.
16:31
And I know that's probably not fair, but now every time he's back or whatever, I think there's going to be a lot of tension there because the fans feel hung out to dry.
16:42
And it doesn't seem like the locker room is that way.
16:45
You know, when he left, there's all these Instagram posts saying nobody deserves it more.
16:49
Go get them.
16:50
Have a great time.
16:51
But for the fans, it's really tough to stomach.
16:55
And then now to see him in Chicago in the AHL and not in the NHL, it's like, was it worth it?
17:05
It's hard to explain.
17:06
I mean, Eric, you should know better about what goalies face when they try to turn pro because there's just one net at every level.
17:13
It's tough to even get a shot.
17:15
Yeah, no, it's tough.
17:17
And, you know, the way I see it is that I'm sure he thought, well, first of all, I'm not envious of the position he was put in because that would suck.
17:28
That's just blatantly that would suck.
17:33
But the way I see it is, you know, like you said, he wasn't having the best year.
17:37
I mean, I still think he's an awesome goalie, but he was struggling.
17:41
And he's an older goalie, and I'm sure, not I'm sure, I'm guessing Carolina was kind of like, hey, you know, we don't know what we would do with you after this year.
17:50
This is your chance to sign, you get a signing bonus.
17:53
That's a lot of money.
17:54
I mean, it's not like, you know, he's not set for life, but like that's a lot of money.
18:00
And so would he have gotten that money at the end of this year?
18:03
Had he wrote it out?
18:04
Probably not.
18:05
Would he have gotten NHL games in the future?
18:07
Well, he'd have to grind in the NHL and work his way up to eventually do it.
18:11
It wouldn't come this soon.
18:13
And I also heard that Carolina told them that Ronto was going to be out, like maybe not the rest of the year, but significantly.
18:21
I mean, he's already back, I'm pretty sure.
18:25
So there's those factors that I'm sure he felt like, well, you know, maybe if I sign after this year, I'm getting 60 grand salary, no signing bonus in the AHL.
18:36
Now I'm getting, if I sign now, I'm getting 90 grand salary and they guaranteed them a handful of NHL games.
18:43
You know, the opportunity cost of that is at least 150 grand, which again, that's a lot of money.
18:52
Yeah, that's not pocket length.
18:53
So yeah, it's tough.
18:57
I don't blame him.
18:58
I wouldn't have blamed him either way for his decision.
19:01
You know, that's his to make.
19:03
But I understand other people's viewpoints on it.
19:08
But it got even crazier, Veegs, because then it leaves an open spot.
19:15
Then Boynton's sick.
19:18
And you have to have two goalies no matter what to start a game, otherwise you have to cancel or forfeit the game.
19:27
And Bartosz Gawicz literally got approved a couple hours before that game.
19:34
He had to dress for Veegs.
19:36
Yeah, pretty crazy for him too.
19:38
It's not just laughter and close.
19:41
It's just a complete craziness behind the scenes.
19:45
Well, and then Youngstown grabs some kid from a prep team to fill out their roster in the USHL.
19:50
You know, there is just like this trickle down, and I'm sure there's some Bannum goalie that got called up to the high school team in South Kent, you know.
19:58
It's just crazy how that impacts everything.
20:02
Who knows what role Boynton or Boris Gavich are going to play this year, if any.
20:08
You know, if Boris Gavich doesn't play, he saves his redshirt.
20:12
Who knows what his future is.
20:13
I'm sure he'll get a nice cool set of pads out of this deal right away like Boynton did this past week.
20:19
But we don't know what the Gophers have there.
20:22
Bob's been very cautious in how he talks about anybody behind Closer, and he's kind of hinted that someone will get a chance.
20:33
But he hasn't really been real clear when that would be or how that would happen.
20:38
I think he's hoping that Closer keeps playing like he is because he's an aggressive goalie who needs to read the play and get out front on top of his crease and attack pucks.
20:49
And he's been doing that pretty well so far.
20:52
How did it work when you were playing, Eric?
20:54
I mean, it got to a point where you're switching a lot of time with Robson at one point.
21:00
Is that something that would Don make the decision or would the goalie coach come in and say, hey, this is the first little bit?
21:06
How did that work?
21:07
Because, you know, Motsko is going to give us the feeling that he kind of lets the goalie coach do his thing and maybe he doesn't input as much.
21:13
But, I mean, that's just what he said.
21:15
Don't let him fool you.
21:19
The head coach is making that call ten times out of ten.
21:22
I don't care who it is.
21:25
As far as what we were doing, I can't really remember exactly who would deliver the message every time.
21:31
I think most of the time it was Don or Genner, and then when we were seniors, it was Bob most of the time.
21:41
But they'll just, you know, for my first two years, it was, with the exception of the first couple months, it was, I pretty much knew I was playing, so there was nothing really said, but usually coach would pull us aside on Thursday practice and say, hey, you're going Friday, you're going Saturday, or you're going Friday, we'll see how it goes.
22:05
So it's dependent on the coach, but usually Thursday, they'll pull both of you aside at once or separately and say, hey, so-and-so is going Friday, but be ready type of thing.
22:15
They always say be ready.
22:16
It's like, okay, what am I going to eat McDonald's tonight and Jimmy John's before the game tomorrow morning?
22:24
Coach will be ready after you have Mariucci.
22:30
And yeah, obviously, recent last few years, Veegs, one guy, LaFontaine.
22:35
I mean, there was no discussion.
22:38
I mean, obviously, we make fun of just Myers, you know, when Mo was still here, he's like, you need to get Mo in there?
22:45
And it was starting to annoy Bob.
22:50
Then Mo leaves.
22:51
Definitely not going to be talking about goaltending.
22:54
And then all of a sudden, we're talking about goaltending nonstop.
22:58
Yeah, it comes up, you know, Bob said, I try to stay out of the goalie room, per se.
23:04
And I kind of wonder, you know, is he popping his head in there a little bit more frequently?
23:09
I always kind of wonder, you know, because goalie is such a specialized position.
23:13
It's like, how do these staffs recruit goalies?
23:16
How do they pick who they're going to bring into the program?
23:19
And then how do they, you know, develop them going forward?
23:23
Because the goalie coaches are volunteer.
23:24
You know, Brennan seems like a great guy.
23:26
He does some private goalie coaching on the side.
23:29
But, you know, he's not getting paid anything by the U.
23:32
He's getting like some equipment and stuff paid for that way and provided for the Gophers that he can use.
23:38
But it's a strange world, the goaltending coaching.
23:41
Eric, can you kind of reflect on that?
23:44
Like, what's it like for goalies to get recruited and how do they pick up goalies?
23:49
I don't exactly know how they pick them.
23:51
I'm guessing they just, they find someone they like.
23:54
They look at stat sheets.
23:56
Okay, so-and-so has good numbers.
23:57
They call around to their network.
23:59
They say, is this guy worth watching?
24:01
Okay, they go watch him a couple of times.
24:03
My recruitment process was pretty, I mean, Grant probably started talking to me in October, like early October, and just stay in touch, which I guess that's not that long.
24:14
But when you're a year out of high school already and kind of looking to make your decision, it kind of felt long.
24:22
And so just kind of strung it along, strung it along.
24:26
And he probably came to five, six of my games and probably watched every other.
24:31
So it was a relatively extensive process.
24:35
But I would guess, you know, they're talking to scouts, whether it be NHL or any USHL coaches asking guys.
24:42
And then if they find someone that they like on video and stuff, they'll go watch them a couple of times.
24:47
Because you can read better in person on someone's makeup as far as, you know, okay, what do they like after they let in a goal?
24:55
Like how confident do they look out there?
24:59
And then as far as once you're in, I know for us, I had Justin Johnson, my first year's goalie coach, great guy, great coach.
25:07
And then Andy Kent in your junior year, they would usually come twice a week to practice and be at most home games.
25:14
They traveled very rarely.
25:18
But yeah, it's, I mean, it's a dicey conversation about should there be a paid goalie coach position?
25:26
Because obviously the Gophers could, but Niagara couldn't.
25:29
So that's kind of a competitive disadvantage.
25:31
But it's kind of ridiculous that you can't pay a goalie coach.
25:36
What do you expect?
25:36
Do you expect these guys to do this for free and put in however many hours a week?
25:42
And that's kind of what I was thinking.
25:45
I mean, think of football leagues, how many paid coaches there are.
25:50
It's ridiculous.
25:52
Right.
25:53
It's insane.
25:54
There's so many people on the payroll like in Alabama.
25:57
Like they need a huge conference room just to even do their game plan prep.
26:02
You know, it's out of hand.
26:03
And I saw some quotes from Carolina that was really going after the college game with how they treat players.
26:10
And when I saw that at first glance, I was like, yeah, that's probably true.
26:15
You know, they probably should have full-time goalie coaches to help these guys develop.
26:18
And he wasn't talking about that.
26:20
He was talking more about how guys, you know, get their scholarships pulled at the last minute, or, you know, their scholarship percentages get moved around.
26:30
Yeah, the NHL promises you a game and then sends you to Chicago.
26:35
Yeah, but I do think goalies probably get a little bit of a short shift in college because you don't have a dedicated coach, and they probably deserve it.
26:45
You know, the college hockey staffs are tough.
26:48
Like, the hockey ops guy isn't really supposed to be an on-ice coach.
26:52
He's not supposed to help.
26:53
He's supposed to be more behind-the-scenes stuff.
26:55
You know, but that's a paid position.
26:59
It would make sense to have a goalie coach to get paid.
27:01
And think about it.
27:04
When Laffer ended up getting his NHL start, somebody put out the number of Minnesota goalies that played at the University of Minnesota that actually have played in the NHLs.
27:14
And really, only two of them have played significant amount of games.
27:17
It was Stauber and John Blue.
27:21
That's 35 years ago, Veegs.
27:25
Yeah, that's interesting.
27:26
I mean, a couple of games here and there.
27:29
I think I even said Praisy might have even had one game in the NHL.
27:33
But not many have played significant games.
27:37
Really, it's only those two that had any impact or games.
27:42
That's definitely a surprising thing.
27:46
But even college, there haven't been a ton of college goalies that have gone on to be successful.
27:51
If you look up the makeup of the NHL, you know, there's starting to be more Americans who are being goalies, but not a ton of them are college guys.
28:01
We're seeing some of those bigger development guys like Demko and Campbell and some of those other guys who've gone that route find the net, but it's not the frequent path.
28:12
I mean, recently, I mean, the only ones I could think of, you know, we had Ryan Miller play, played a very long time.
28:19
Elliott had his time at St.
28:20
Louis for a while.
28:22
Quick.
28:25
But you're right.
28:25
It is very thin.
28:27
The only thing I'd say about the whole, the not many goalies from Minnesota, which you would think because Minnesota has been so consistently good for so long.
28:38
I'm just off the top of my head.
28:40
I can't really think of any school that has consistently pumped out goalies, with the exception of Maine.
28:46
Well, what's got to get for a while?
28:49
Who do they have?
28:50
Elliott?
28:52
Who else played?
28:53
Yeah, you've got to go back to the 80s and 90s.
28:57
Modern days.
29:00
Yeah, modern days, it is all new.
29:02
If you think about it, Maine had Bishop, they have Swamen, now they have Jimmy Howard, Scott Darling.
29:10
Just as recently, off the top of my head, that's four.
29:13
Then from there, you're picking and choosing this school, this school, this school, to have NHL guys.
29:19
You would think maybe a school like Minnesota would have more than the average, but it doesn't really seem like, without digging into the stats, that any school does, really, besides Maine, for whatever reason.
29:35
Minnesota obviously got on blue, and Stauber had significant games, but they certainly weren't superstars bigs.
29:42
I just think that goalie is a tough position to evaluate and project and develop.
29:51
There's room for improvement there.
29:52
I know Minnesota Hockey has really emphasized that there are lower levels teaching coaches how to coach goalies and develop goalies, and you want to have guys get that training early on and like goalie.
30:05
It shouldn't just be, you know, who wants to play goalie?
30:08
You want to look for a good athlete that can play the position.
30:14
But you think of somebody like Jim Craig, obviously the 80 Olympic team played out of his mind, you know, in college and for the Olympic team.
30:23
He disappeared after that, Veegs.
30:26
He really did.
30:27
It's hard to be consistent.
30:29
I think when you're looking at goalies and you're recruiting, if you're looking at stats as like your first sift, I feel like you're going to miss a lot because the team that's in front of you dictates a lot of those statistics.
30:40
You know, they look in the NHL at the top tier goalies in terms of stats and then the top tier in terms of evaluating.
30:48
And it goes up and down.
30:50
Like it's very hard for people to play goalie at a high level for a long time.
30:54
And it's just it's complicated to evaluate, I think.
30:58
Brevver, don't tell Mankato this discussion.
31:03
Did you know he's named after Dryden, Ken Dryden?
31:09
Can't wait to hear that 500 times during the tournament.
31:12
Eric, how would you like to play behind that Mankato team where you only see 10 shots a game every once in a while?
31:19
It would be nice.
31:20
However, you let in two and your stats go to hell.
31:24
So there's a spin zone for you.
31:26
Yeah, but yeah, it would be nice to play in a system like that, no doubt.
31:33
So credit to them.
31:34
Credit to McKay, too, though.
31:36
He does well.
31:38
He still stops a lot.
31:41
I'm surprised he wasn't named a Team USA.
31:45
Maybe they just felt, hey, we're taking the Mankato coach.
31:48
We don't want to take the player.
31:50
Yeah, I don't know.
31:53
Their goalie decisions were a little odd to me.
31:57
Did they take someone from Lincoln?
32:00
Like in the USHL?
32:02
They took, what's the space from Michigan?
32:04
I know that.
32:04
He'd probably be the starting goalie, maybe.
32:06
Strauss Van?
32:08
But he was playing in the Swedish hockey league.
32:10
Yeah, so that makes sense.
32:11
I just assumed that there was, like, I figured they'd find someone in Russia, or I guess they found someone in Sweden, like a couple guys, you know, that are just bona fide, good European goalies, you know, that are pro, right?
32:29
Like, you'd think that a pro is better than college.
32:32
I find myself wondering if Hastings begged them not to take McKay.
32:37
Well, but like we say, though, like, goalie is a hard position.
32:40
Like, there aren't a lot of USA goalies that have found spots in Europe and the KHL.
32:46
There aren't a lot to pick from.
32:47
Yeah, so it's a completely different beast this time.
32:52
Eric Schier kept playing.
32:54
You could have been an Olympian.
32:56
You could have got the nice Ralph Laurenz gear.
32:58
I didn't see anyone from the French league on the Olympic team.
33:03
We've got a spot open in our GopherPuckLive skate in March, so we might need goalie.
33:09
No promises, though.
33:10
I'd hurt myself.
33:11
I'll scoot out.
33:13
I think we actually have Nick Angel playing already for our Gopher, and I think somebody's trying to get a couple others, so that would be kind of fun, but we'll put more pressure on you in overtime.
33:27
Okay.
33:28
Well, we've got to get to the second part of our show, and before we get to the second part of our show, we've got to hear from our sponsor.
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And of course, we always thank Jerry for continuing to sponsor the podcast.
34:41
Yeah, we started a group playing, like a lot of us met each other, you know, from an old website, prideonice.com.
34:50
Back in the day, we started playing hockey in 2002.
34:54
And adult, slow guy hockey.
35:03
I bet it's a blast.
35:03
20 years go by just like that.
35:06
It does.
35:08
It does.
35:09
And, you know, we had a couple skates, you know, and what have been after the Gopher season, we had, you know, we had Roburg show up with Nick Angel, you know, from those Duluth boys.
35:22
We had some drinking happening.
35:27
It was a fun time and, you know, a lot of us continued playing.
35:30
I mean, Vegoe and I played on an adult league.
35:32
We formed a couple of adult league teams after that.
35:34
We played up in the super rink for years.
35:37
And now we've all just gotten kind of too old, but we like, it's 20 years since we started playing.
35:41
We're going to get all the guys together.
35:42
So I might be texting you later.
35:47
I don't know.
35:48
I suck enough as it is, Vegoe.
35:50
You think, you know, Eric's going to say that, you know, I'm just a terrible, I haven't played in so long, but he's still like, young legs.
35:59
Young legs, Eric, right?
36:00
Young legs and he's light years above any other goalie we would have.
36:08
Well, we've got to get Eric to skate out.
36:10
Yeah.
36:12
Oh, it's a better workout, easier on the hips too.
36:17
And actually one of our, from our Rubes Hockey Team that Vego and I played on, our goalie is actually going to skate out.
36:22
He's like, I've retired from playing goalie.
36:24
That's how everyone is.
36:25
No one wants to play goalie and get two-on-ones and breakaways.
36:30
You know, I'm guessing we could try to get Jess Myers if we wanted to.
36:33
Let's throw Deutsch in the net.
36:35
I want Myers and Deutsch in the nuts.
36:40
No, I think it's Deutsch.
36:41
That would be hilarious.
36:45
Actually, we talked with Chris Long a couple weeks ago.
36:50
A lot of the media guys still play hockey.
36:52
I think it would be fun just to get a bunch of people together.
36:55
It doesn't have to be a serious game, but just to play.
36:59
I'll keep the elbows down.
37:01
I'll keep them tucked.
37:03
If somebody like Mr.
37:04
Schierhorn here, he's going to skate out.
37:06
He's going to be throwing elbows and high sticks everywhere.
37:09
I've got some sand there for my game.
37:12
How do you skate out?
37:14
Are you a hockey skater or have you been a goalie for so long that it's a little weird?
37:20
I hone my skills a little bit when I do some goalie coaching.
37:23
I work on my shot, my hands.
37:27
We actually, a couple of us, skated outside two weeks ago, but I just have my goalie skates, which are the new ones, so they don't have, I don't look like an idiot and have the white plastic cover over them.
37:42
But they're still super flat blade, and they got the, they don't round up as high.
37:48
So if I'm trying to go from a dead stop and try to start too fast, I always toe pick, and it's embarrassing.
37:56
It's embarrassing.
38:01
Well, we'll have a fun time.
38:02
It's like, you know, still a couple months away here, and it'll be fun to put on.
38:06
I haven't, I didn't, I took my bag down from the garage V.
38:10
It's been up there for five years.
38:13
I'm on the ice a lot with the Mini Mites and Mites.
38:15
So, you know, the hands are active and the skates don't hurt.
38:20
So that's a good key for me to start.
38:23
I've gotten my Apple fitness workouts going.
38:25
I'm doing a little bit more lunges and curtsies and squats.
38:28
So I'm trying to get the legs back.
38:31
I'll say I got this one of those whoop things or whatever.
38:36
And so it tracks your activity kind of like an Apple watch or whatever.
38:39
I'll coach for, you know, I usually do coaching for like two or three hours at a time.
38:43
And it's, I don't know if it's more an indictment on my, what kind of shape I'm in right now.
38:51
But it's like, you kind of get working when you're coaching.
38:56
And I'm a goalie.
38:57
So it's not like I'm buzzing around the rink.
39:00
Like I'm not doing a whole lot.
39:01
I don't know if it's just standing on your skates.
39:03
Like you're just kind of working muscles at all times.
39:05
But I was kind of surprised at how much of a workout coaching can be.
39:12
Boy, go ahead, Veegs.
39:14
I noticed that Coach Motzko during practice, every once in a while he'll just start doing widths of the ice when they're doing power plays at the two ends.
39:23
He's checking his watch, he's getting his workout in.
39:27
During practice he's letting Rabs and Gordo run the drills at each end with power play stuff.
39:33
And every once in a while he'll pop in and tell somebody something.
39:36
But he's getting his steps in basically.
39:40
Nice.
39:41
I have found that it's most of your lungs that are affected.
39:45
But I've enjoyed playing adult league hockey because it's not hard on your body that much, Veegs.
39:55
Because you're not playing a checking league.
39:58
There's no impact from running.
40:00
It's a smooth skate so you're getting a decent workout.
40:02
And unless you fall and hit the boards you could get injured.
40:05
But really it's a sport that can be played a long time in your life.
40:09
Wendell Anderson was playing into his 70s or something like that.
40:13
He was the former governor.
40:15
He played a long time.
40:17
It's a really good sport for just keep playing for your entire life.
40:22
He used to play at Drake Arena.
40:24
They had a legal team put together that played in the Sunday Night League there for a long time.
40:30
No, it's good.
40:32
High-intensity interval training.
40:36
Wally Shaver, I think he still plays.
40:39
He's a goalie in his late 60s.
40:43
I guess I don't have any excuses.
40:47
Well, the thing is, I'm thinking also Wally is a stand-up goalie, kind of like old school.
40:53
He's rocking the kick saves.
40:55
I mean, it's probably not butterfly that just kill your knees.
40:58
Those catcher's knees, they're always crouched over.
41:03
And I just have a feeling he likes it because he doesn't have to chip in for the ice time then.
41:08
Goli's always free.
41:09
Goli's skate for free.
41:10
Jerks.
41:15
Well, let's get into this weekend, Veegs.
41:17
A struggling Michigan State coming into Mariucci.
41:23
Gophers need to adjust the lineup.
41:24
They got three guys out.
41:26
Who knows, we're still with COVID.
41:28
I mean, little things and, you know, Nelson's still out with injury.
41:32
But yet, they need to get six points this weekend.
41:37
Yeah, we talked to Bob this week and he's going to stick McLaughlin, Walker and Brudzin ski together.
41:43
And then he's got to figure out the other nine because he only has 12 forwards to put in the lineup.
41:49
So he needs everyone to play.
41:50
So Collin Schmidt's going to get to play regular shift.
41:54
Krugshank's going to move to center this weekend for the series.
41:58
We asked him if he was going to slide Lucius into the middle because he said, you know, eventually Lucius is going to be a center in college.
42:06
You know, he's got that playmaking skill set that we need.
42:09
I kind of wondered, well, what are you waiting for?
42:13
This is the chance to do it.
42:14
He's going to be with new linemates anyway.
42:16
He's probably the most creative player moving the puck and creating space on the roster.
42:22
Maybe this would be a good weekend for him to try it out.
42:25
Bob's going to hold back.
42:26
You know, I think he's hoping when he gets Nelson and Myers back, you know, he'll be deep at center again.
42:33
But it'll be interesting to see what they come up with.
42:36
You know, Huygens played pretty well.
42:38
I think Purvix has played pretty well.
42:39
So they should be OK down the middle.
42:42
And one more thing, Veegs, you know, about, let's, Michigan State.
42:48
They lost Lewandowski.
42:49
He's their best player.
42:51
They were playing much better when he was playing.
42:53
And then right before that, we played them the first time he went out.
42:56
I don't believe he's come back.
42:58
That is a huge hit for Michigan State.
43:01
That's a huge loss for them.
43:02
It's going to be a challenge for them to score goals.
43:05
I think this weekend, you know, they're probably going to play as tight as you can play on the big sheet.
43:11
And it's going to be up to Minnesota to play smart and not give offense to their opponents this weekend, because I don't think Michigan State is going to be creating a lot.
43:21
So I think this is a weekend where Minnesota needs to play that percentage hockey, even though you feel like you have to press and you want to get your six points.
43:30
But you can't treat it like that.
43:31
You got to treat it, you know, five minute segments and just get through and play smart and know that your talent is going to shine when it has to shine, but don't force it to happen.
43:42
Now, Eric, obviously, Veegs brings in the big sheet.
43:48
I've always thought it's always hurt the Gophers at the end of the season when you're going to be playing on a normal NHL sheet.
43:54
But were there some weekends when you would have a team come in town and you enjoyed having the big sheet where you could, where you had a team that could really take advantage of that space and make the other team pay?
44:07
I mean, I don't think, I think there's something to, you know, playing on the big sheet most of the year and then going to the small sheet in playoffs.
44:17
I mean, that's not nothing for sure.
44:21
As far as teams coming in, yeah, I mean, historically Gophers have had just great skaters up and down the lineup.
44:29
So I think when a team comes in that's, you know, a little slower and a little less skilled, they can kind of use their skill to skate circles around them and kind of take over games on the big sheet that they might not otherwise on the small sheet.
44:48
So I think there is an advantage there, no doubt.
44:51
Now, does that advantage outweigh the going into the playoffs kind of on a different size sheet?
44:58
I don't know, because there's a lot of good skating teams in college, there's a lot of good skating teams in Big Ten.
45:03
But yeah, so yes, I would say sometimes it certainly has its advantages, but I really don't think it's as big of an advantage.
45:13
I don't think it's much of an advantage at all, to be honest with you, because it's not like it's all of a sudden a completely different game.
45:20
I think it's more so an advantage, a smaller sheet is an advantage more so for teams against the Gophers than a big sheet is for the Gophers against certain teams.
45:30
Well, maybe it is also something to Veegs where maybe the Gophers haven't had as much skill to take advantage of the big ice that they've always had.
45:41
Perhaps.
45:43
I think Bob is trying to get a team that's better for the smaller sheet and I think they've actually played better on some of the smaller sheets lately when they can play aggressive because it forces you to get your forecheck going.
45:57
I think one thing about a weekend like this is the extra width against a team like Michigan State allows you to gain the zone with the puck so much easier.
46:06
On the power play allows you to gain the zone, set up, the corners are so deep you can run away and if Michigan State is going to chase you there, it's actually good for you.
46:15
So it kind of slows down maybe the power play a little bit and then forces you to set up some stuff more in zone.
46:22
So I think that's where it really comes into play in my mindset is just those entries and then setting up on special teams.
46:29
You know, one thing I wanted to mention, Eric, is, you know, it didn't affect you as much, but in the Big Ten, there are two rinks, Michigan State and Notre Dame, that have opposite benches.
46:42
The benches are on opposite sides.
46:44
Does that affect the team at all?
46:46
Does it kind of confuse players at all?
46:49
I've always wondered that.
46:50
I've never because there's so few rinks that have that.
46:52
Yeah, it's confused players know that the advantage is comes from coming in and out of the box because the penalty box is always on the home team side.
47:02
So they, you know, if you look at Notre Dame, the door for the box is right here and the door for their bench is right there.
47:08
So as soon as that player steps off, he can step right into the bench.
47:12
They can get someone going.
47:13
Whereas the visiting team has to go all the way across the ice.
47:16
So there's something there.
47:17
But as far anything other than that, no, it's so interesting how teams try to get a competitive advantage like that.
47:26
I remember one of my recruiting visits I took was to UNO and they were still building their new rinks.
47:34
So I was walking around, I was getting the whole spiel and they were kind of talking about some of the tweaks they were making to get that competitive advantage.
47:41
And they had the benches on opposite sides, penalty box.
47:46
And they made the visiting locker room as far away from where they walk out as possible type of thing.
47:53
It's just it's funny all these little things that I mean, the penalty box thing.
47:59
Yeah, maybe.
47:59
But you're going to make their walk longer.
48:01
Like, like, that's not going to matter.
48:03
I remember playing in the old Coliseum on the fairgrounds.
48:08
Sometimes you get the locker room.
48:10
It was like a four minute walk or five minute walk just to get to the ice.
48:14
And so you'd always get stuck at the very, very far locker room at the Coliseum.
48:18
There might be something to five minutes.
48:20
There might be something to five minutes.
48:22
Well, you know, Minnesota does that all the year long because in a typical arena, Minnesota, at least at Mariucci, is in the visitors bench.
48:36
Really?
48:37
Anyone ever notice that?
48:38
So when they go on the road, their bench is still on the same spot.
48:43
They're not having to flip the benches.
48:45
Have you ever noticed that, Veegs?
48:47
Most home teams are, like when you see the TV, you know, when you're facing the benches, the home team is usually on the right.
48:55
I've never noticed that.
48:56
Minnesota, they've always been on the left.
48:59
And then when they go to opposing arenas, they're still on that same side.
49:03
I don't know if it makes a difference.
49:05
It's just something weird I've noticed.
49:07
And I think that's a lot of times why Don liked having the choice of benches at the X, because he would do the exact same thing.
49:16
He would want that same bench at the X.
49:20
Just a weird thing I've noticed over the years.
49:26
I don't know.
49:26
Old Mayor Uchiha used to have opposite sides, too, I believe, didn't he, Vig?
49:31
They sure did.
49:32
I grew up just a couple seats away from the penalty box.
49:36
I got a good education from the students and the rafters above me coming down to tell the players it was all their fault when the Gophers scored on the power play.
49:45
That guy had to sit there for two minutes still.
49:48
It was a good time.
49:50
You could still partially get that feeling if you go to the pavilion and sit in the upper deck.
49:56
That's how close you were to the ice and just a crazy, crazy place.
50:01
It's cool to be kind of hanging over.
50:03
I love that place.
50:04
I mean, in the day, you know, they didn't have that like at the pavilion.
50:08
They've kind of have that entrance there when you come in.
50:10
It took out.
50:12
When you come in the entrance, you're already on the ice there.
50:14
There used to be just a wall there, Eric.
50:17
And, you know, sunshine would come through the windows on afternoons.
50:21
It was just that's awesome.
50:22
Yes, it was an old dump, but you had to go upstairs to get to the ice.
50:27
But that was cool.
50:29
Yeah, it was.
50:32
All right.
50:33
What do you think of this weekend?
50:34
Means you've got to pick six points, right?
50:37
Yeah, I got to go with six this weekend.
50:39
You know, there's a lot of changes happening right now to the program.
50:44
As they say goodbye to the guys in the Olympics.
50:46
They're still waiting for Nelson to come back off his injury.
50:49
But I think the talent disparity between these two programs right now is pretty big.
50:54
And Minnesota has been playing well this second half.
50:58
You know, we haven't seen consistent, you know, two games in a row where they are dominant.
51:03
But they've been very good on Friday.
51:05
And I thought they've been good enough on a lot of Saturdays.
51:08
And I think Close is playing well.
51:11
You know, he is reading plays.
51:13
He is playing aggressively.
51:14
He looks pretty sharp for the most part.
51:17
You know, he's probably not, you know, an elite, elite goalie in college hockey.
51:21
But you just need somebody who is pretty good right now, I think, with this program.
51:25
And Minnesota only lost one defenseman.
51:27
They still return a lot of talent.
51:29
And we thought that that would be the strength of this team from the start.
51:33
And I think they should really lean on that this weekend.
51:35
And would you still like to see Bob do a little experimentation with Walker McLaughlin?
51:45
I would.
51:45
I would like to see him just stick with it for a weekend, or at least an entire game, because when he has tried it, he is so quick to just go back to what's familiar.
51:55
And I think Walker looks so much more dynamic in the game when he's playing wing and using his speed, especially against a team like Michigan State like this.
52:03
You know, they're going to be physical and heavy.
52:05
If you were to put them on the wing, he's going to pressure that D.
52:08
You're going to have easier exits, and you're going to have more transition opportunities.
52:13
Now you're just going to give Michigan State time to build up layers to their net that Walker has shown that he's going to try to stick handle through.
52:22
And it's just going to be a tough situation for him if that's what he's going to do.
52:26
You know, we always talk about players.
52:28
What are your options on the rush?
52:29
You can go wide.
52:31
You can cut back and create space and look for a late player.
52:34
You can put a shot on that or you can try to cut to the middle and stick handle through people.
52:39
One of those plays is a very low percentage play.
52:46
Definitely is.
52:48
All right, Mr.
52:48
Schierhorn.
52:49
I'm hoping you're thinking sweep too.
52:51
They just need it.
52:52
They need it.
52:53
Yeah.
52:54
Yeah, they need it.
52:56
And I think they're going to get the sweep and the six points.
52:59
I mean, like you said, the talent disparity between the two teams is pretty significant.
53:07
And I think the Gophers, they have been playing well, too.
53:11
They're one step away from really, I just feel like one step away from firing off four, five, six in a row.
53:21
So they're doing the right things.
53:22
And I think the results are coming.
53:24
So six.
53:25
And Veegs, this is the time to start firing off five or six in a row.
53:28
This is the perfect time.
53:30
Yeah, I mean, they're going to put themselves in a tough spot.
53:33
If they drop games this weekend, that really puts them towards the pairwise bubble.
53:38
You know, now is the time to start looking at pairwise and where you're where you're sitting and what you have to do.
53:44
You can't look too far ahead, but this is a key weekend.
53:47
This isn't as bad as losing to like an Atlantic hockey or an independent team, but it would not be good.
53:53
So let me ask you guys this.
53:55
What's comfortable for you guys as far as paralyze?
54:00
If you can get to eight by conference tournament, you're in a good spot.
54:05
Yeah, eight, I think you're laughing.
54:07
I would like when you start getting nervous with 10-11.
54:12
I think if you're in the conference tournament at 10-11 and you lose that first weekend, you're probably going to 13 or 14 and you're on the edge then.
54:21
You know, if you're at eight and you lose games, you probably drop to 10 or 11.
54:25
Remember Veegs at the beginning of the season?
54:29
We said we're not going to be worrying about pairwise.
54:31
This team should be good enough.
54:33
That's the frustrating part because even Bob knows he's got a good team and he's got to be frustrated.
54:38
He can only say it so many times in the media, but he's got to be frustrated that this team isn't where it should be or he thought it should be.
54:47
Yes, I know Chris Eckes here in the chat is saying the new drinking game is when I, you know, pick at the captain that you should have a drink.
54:54
That might be a dangerous game.
54:57
But this team needs Walker and McLaughlin playing their best for them to be successful.
55:02
We look at the wins.
55:04
That line is like plus 21 in their wins.
55:08
It's probably up to like plus 24 in their wins.
55:10
And they're like minus 32 in their losses.
55:15
However, that line plays is how this team is going right now.
55:19
The Nice line, they were super consistent while they're gone.
55:23
So now, you know, there's more pressure on McLaughlin and Walker to play well.
55:29
And if they play smart and play well, this team is going to go places.
55:33
But if they keep having these roller coaster weekends, it's going to be tough to pull off that six game win streak.
55:39
We were listening to Frank and Wally talk about the championship teams in 0-2 and 0-3.
55:44
And he said one of the things is that roster could put together six, eight win streaks.
55:51
You know, that was something they could do.
55:53
They could play at that high level for a long time.
55:56
And to go into a tournament, you need to know that you can do that.
56:01
All right, boys.
56:03
Thanks, Eric, for coming on again.
56:07
It's just nice to have one thing.
56:10
We don't get a goalie perspective, really.
56:13
We don't.
56:14
And you've played recently, so it's nice to get that perspective of a recent player who's been there.
56:23
Yeah, I try to keep playing the good fight for goalie nations.
56:28
Well, we appreciate you coming on.
56:30
Veegs, are you working on anything recently?
56:33
No, yeah, just trying to get through life.
56:36
Oliver Moore did commit to the Gophers.
56:38
That's a big win for the program.
56:40
He is a top player for his age group.
56:43
He's got that first round potential in him, game breaking speed, a lot of skill.
56:50
He's one of those guys who's done really well in the AAA circuit, and he's with the development team on the U-17 roster, and he's played a couple of games with the U-18 team, too.
56:59
He's the player that's trying to finish his two years of development program and then go right to school.
57:06
So probably going to be a young player in the lineup, but a lot of speed, good win for them in the recruiting battles.
57:13
Well, that's good to hear.
57:14
That's really good to hear, Veegs.
57:17
All right, well, that's going to do it for this episode of the GPL Podcast.
57:21
You know, thank Eric for coming on.
57:23
We'll be back next week on our regular nights on Wednesday.
57:28
Paul Caponegrino is going to be joining us, making his return again.
57:32
For those of you watching live, stay tuned for some overtime.
57:36
For the rest of you, we'll catch you next week on the GPL Podcast.
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